Stoke Minster set among trees, as seen from the ridge walk. Version 1.1 1 Stoke-on-Trent, England, 2012. 2 The Kidsgrove to Stoke RIDGEWAY An Elevated Green Route, to Walk from Kidsgrove Station to Stoke Station An unofficial extension of the Gritstone Trail Explored and Compiled by David Haden June 2012 3 The Kidsgrove to Stoke RIDGEWAY Length: about 10 miles, north to south. Possibly six hours, for a fit individual walker moving along at their own pace and taking short breathers. Location: in North Staffordshire, along a mostly green and elevated route. Level: this is a strenuous dry weather (summer or autumn) walk of many slopes, effectively continuing the ‘up-down’ of the Gritstone Trail through to Stoke-on-Trent. It is suitable for fit adult walkers wearing good boots. Type: perhaps 80% of the walk is off-road through or alongside woodland and parkland/pasture, and there are fine elevated views at numerous points. This is substantially a ridge and hill walk, designed for those who are bored with the dull level plodding of canal and lake walks - and so you must enjoy a constant variation of slopes, some of them quite steep. Extras: there are many fine views and small binoculars might be desirable. Secateurs could also be useful after mid-June, for cutting long brambles. A Stoke-on-Trent A-Z map book might be useful for the suburban bits. Those who can’t tell what compass direction they’re going in might want a compass. Eateries: Stoke-on-Trent train station / New Smithy Inn, Wolstanton / the many cafes / pubs of Stoke town. There are no shops directly on the route. Date undertaken: June 2012. There had been two days of rain prior to the walk - but mud was not found to be any real problem. NORTH-to-south initial access: take a train to Kidsgrove train station. Kidsgrove is served hourly by trains (departing 58 minutes past the hour) from the mainline station at Stoke-on-Trent. This is the slow “all stops” train from Stoke to Manchester. Single fare is £3.70 from Stoke, and the journey takes about 7 minutes. SOUTH-to-North initial access (the reverse of the walk as presented in this book): take a train to Stoke-on-Trent mainline station, and start from there. There is free and secure cycle locking at Stoke train station. Kidgrove station is also on the National Cycle Path No. 5; and the Trent and Mersey Canal through North Staffordshire. It is the current southerly terminus of the Gritstone Trail long-distance path [ http://www.discoverthegritstonetrail.co.uk ]. 4 START FROM KIDSGROVE HISTORICAL NOTE: TRAIN STATION (north to south): The navigable Harecastle EXIT Kidsgrove train station across the Tunnel’s ‘Telford Tunnel’ steep passenger bridge, and enter the is 2,926 yards long, and station’s small car park. You will see ahead was finished in 1827. of you a prominent pedestrian exit from There used to be a 1½- the car-park. This steps you down onto mile side tunnel, now the towing path of the Trent and Mersey disused, through to the Canal. You can’t miss the canal, as it is mines at Goldenhill. bright orange – this is not pollution, but is Folklore clusters around due to the natural level of ironstone runoff the tunnel, and there are in the water here. tales of a ‘boggart’ here. Turn right, onto and along the canal towing path. Go towards the north entrance of the Harecastle Tunnels. 5 Ahead you will see the Harecastle Tunnels and the British Waterways office. This office manages / instructs the holiday narrowboat traffic, showing them how to get through the tunnel that is still navigable. Walk behind the office, to find a wide vehicle path that goes around and up. Narrowboat horses once took this path to get to the old Boathorse Road, since they would not go through the tunnel… 6 This short lane leads up through a wooded section, then runs alongside the church (which, although relatively modern, has a very fine peal of bells)… At the end of this very short leafy lane (excellent for conkers in the Autumn), turn left and go down the short slope toward the car road… 7 Cross over the car road and immediately turn right. You should see this junction just a few yards ahead… Look for the prominent road sign to “Acres Nook”, since this also points you down the Boathouse Road - which starts under the trees. Cross over and go up onto the elevated and fenced Boathouse Road pedestrian walkway… Then, immediately you enter the pedestrian walkway, strike off up the woodland path directly to the right. Head on up the hill into the woods. Go about forty yards up the steep slope path. DO NOT go to the very top. 8 When you are about three-quarters of the way up, note this side path to the left - the one that leaps over a little rain gulley. Take it. You will then find yourself walking a curvy path going ever higher. It runs along the top of a secluded wooded ridge, among maturing young chestnut and beech trees. 9 When this delightful ridge path eventually drops down, it does so onto the narrow paved access lane which runs along the north edge of Bathpool Park (a large local beauty spot set in a wooded valley with an artificial lake). You just saved yourself a low gloomy walk along Boathorse Lane, with the car traffic zipping past you and you munching on car fumes. By now, you should be getting into your stride… 10 Once you have come out from the woodland path, and are standing on the Bathpool access lane, turn left. Walk the thirty yards of cycle-path back toward the main northern car park of Bathpool Park (or just cut a diagonal across the grass)… Your aim is the rear of the car park, to get to the start of the main footpath that runs down the more secluded eastern side of Bathpool… 11 The start of the eastern path, from the northern car-park at Bathpool. Follow this unpaved path southwards, straight down the valley - but note that there is soon the option to cut off from it, to take a slightly higher and parallel path under the trees. These paths run alongside each other, and both end up in the same place. Along this route you will encounter two long stone bridges. Both bridges branch off to the right. They take you across the West Coast Main Line train tracks and both give elevated views. You will need to use one or the other bridge to cross. I prefer the second one, seen here… 12 OPTIONAL DETOUR: Once you are standing at the eastern entrance to the second bridge, consider a historic detour up into the woods. To make this detour, simply take the public footpath that runs directly up the slope into the woods, from the eastern entrance of the second bridge. You will then reach a walkers’ stile at the top of the woods… HISTORICAL NOTE: This WARNING: very small mine seems to have DO NOT be tempted to been Lowlands Colliery Ltd’s continue on south through ‘Ravenscliffe No. 4’. It appears to the wood at this high level, have been first formally licenced in in the hope of a shortcut - the depths of the Great because a local farmer has Depression in 1937 and it is fenced the wood with a known to have continued in stout barbed wire fence all operation into the late 1950s. It the way up, blocked a was said to be… “employing 20 public footpath and men below ground and 10 above sprayed it with manure, in 1957” (from Guide to the and has also felled a large Coalfields, 1960). What sort of number of the valley’s cola it supplied and to whom, trees. appears to be unknown. 13 Instead of going over the stile (there’s not much on the hilltop worth looking at), to find the mine you just hook off right into the woods. Once a few yards over the ridge, you will discover what seems to be the remains of a small mine. Above: these appear to be the filled-in mine entrance / tipping platform structure. 14 BACK ON THE PATH: With the historical detour finished, retrace your steps down the hill, and go back to cross the second stone bridge. Once across the bridge, turn left and continue walking south on the main cycle- path that runs through the Park… Go a few hundred yards down this very smart cycle-path, noting that it even has its own street lamps(!). Then you will see that the path wiggles and dips down just ahead of you. It’s preparing to go into a short subway, which takes the cycle-path under the railway lines… 15 Look out for the uncomfortable and thoroughly uninviting municipal bench sited on this sharp ‘wiggle’ corner of the cycle-path (see photo overleaf). Then note the un-signposted little path that climbs up behind this bench. That’s the path you want to take, not the cycle-path that goes under the subway. 16 This easy-to-miss path should then take you in a sharp curve off to the left and into the wildest bit of Bathpool, Target Wood. The Wood certainly doesn’t look very huge at the start, but it gets a lot bigger later. Be careful not to tromp straight on past the Target Wood entrance path.